Editorial: We must do something about reducing gun violence

PRESIDENT Barack Obama vowed he will use "whatever power" he has to prevent shootings such as the one in Newtown, Conn., that left 26 children and teachers dead in a matter of minutes.

"What choice do we have?" he said Sunday night during a service in Newtown. "Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?"

Absolutely not. As a society we need to tell the National Rifle Association and other lobbying groups that we have had enough senseless carnage and loss of life — and stonewalling in Washington, D.C.

People and groups should not be able to hide behind the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which the Founding Fathers never intended to protect people abusing semiautomatic assault weapons.

We need to do more about readily available armor-piercing bullets and large clips of ammunition and insist on comprehensive background checks for those who purchase and own guns.

This requires political backbone and translating our current sense of outrage into action. Otherwise the wrenching grief, tears and incomprehensible pain of parents, relatives and friends in Newtown, Conn., and felt across the nation, will not be enough to keep it all from happening again.

The rest of the civilized world cannot comprehend the gun-related violence that claims 31,000 lives in the United States each year; the rest of the civilized world shakes their heads in disbelief.

Allowing everyone to carry guns all the time to make our nation a safer place is not the answer, especially after what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School. These were first-graders.

This is a complicated issue. It is about more than just guns and ammunition designed to kill scores of people in a few minutes.

It is also about the culture we have created; one which glorifies violence. Video games are so realistic it is hard to differentiate them from news footage. They reflect our society's fascination with violence; a fascination that needs to be questioned and addressed.

Freedom is precious. So are our children. We don't have to choose between the two.

Our hearts go out to all the families in Newtown, but that isn't enough.